Connecting plug and cord



20, 1938. s. A. DUVALL y y CONNECTINCI PLUG AND CORD Filed Nov. 12, 19355 v2 Sheets-Sheet l s. A. Duv'ALL' 2,140,499

CONNECTING PLUG AND CORD Filed Nov. 12, 1955v 2 shee'ushee*v 2 Fgl" Glimmen..

Patented Dec. zo, 193s i UNI-'TED STATES PATENT' OFFICE Stanley A. Duvall, Edinburg, Tex., assigner to Myrtle May Barker' Duvall, Edinburg, Tex.

Application November 12, 1935, serial No. 49,413

, 1 Claim. (o1. y173-322) n1This7inventionrelates to electric iron xtures andl moreparticularly to any improved iron cord n Vand electric connecting'plug.

Inv ironing with the standard type of electric iron and cord the housewife has found it very inconvenient to have the iron cord dangling or resting on Vthe ironing board, as the cord is continually in the Way of the iron, ruiiles the material being ironed and the user must constantly keep moving the cord by hand from the path of the iron. n Y While many attemptshave been made to overcome this inconvenience, they have never been y as simple, practical andA lasting as my device.` For example, heretofore, all such devices have relied on some separate bracket mounted on the ironing board,yor` iron in some instances, but in every y such instance the-arrangement has been proven to, be very awkward and inconvenient. This is especially so because in all Vof these arrangements fthe cord interferes with' the tilting of the iron backupon the iron rest, Common to all standard electric irons today. The old position of the iron 'Y lcord not only hindersfthe useof thelironvrest, 25 butwill not permitjthe'use of a laterally extending rigid portion `of the iron cord and also even f ifthe rigid portion were made very short, which would be impractical, to permit the iron to be rtilted on its rest, the result would be disastrous as the insulation would be subjected to strain or ,shearing stress at certain points.

It is apparent therefore that an object of my invention is to overcome these defects by providing for a novel type of plug in combination with y a. novel iron oord, which will not contact the jironing board or'the material being ironed, or Vinterfere with the use of the iron. f i Another object of my invention is to do away withV the necessity of any outside supporting Ymeans for an iron cord to hold it above and ou 'of contact with an ironing board. u f @And yet another object of my invention is to provide av strain relieving means at an extremity of the rigid section of the iron cord.

' Other objects and advantages of my invention will be disclosed in the following description and accompanying drawings, inwhich;

,"Figure 1 is a front elevation of my plug and .50`iron cord, with a portion of the plug and cord cut away and in cross section. Figure 2 is a bottom view of the plug and the rigid section of the cord.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view in cross section of the three sections which make upthe cord and shows how the mid-section may be bent upwardly or downwardly.

Figure 4 is a top view of an iron on an ironing board with my plug and cord connected for operation and showing how it may extend outwardly 5 from either side of the ironing board.

Figure 5 -is a side view of an iron and ironing board and shows how readily the iron is tilted on its rest without interference from the cord.

Figure 6 is a rear view of .an iron on an ironing 10 board showing ,the cord with its rigid first section above the ironing board and its pliable second strain reducing section bent upwardly.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, numeral I is an electric iron connecting plug of 15 any usual type of construction, preferably formed in two body sections A and B, so shaped as to form an upper enlarged head portion 2 to proi vide for a hand grip for connecting and disconnecting the same with an iron. The sections A 20 and B of the plug head 2 are also cut to form openings 3 and 4 in each end of the said plug head.

Atube 5 extends from a point just outside the plug head 2 longitudinally through the plug head 25 2 and the openings 3 and 4, and especial care is made to make a very tight fit of the tube in each of said openings. The tube 5 is beaded at I 3 to act as a stop and is preferably made of aluminum or any other light material, it being 30 very desirable to have the entire assembly as light as possible so as to prevent any side movement of the plug and insure a solid connection between the plug contacts I4, which are made of greater length than the average, to enable 35 them to contact the entire length of the iron terminals, not shown. The portion of tube 5 `which is inside the plug head 2 is slotted at I5 to permit the conductor wires I6 and I I to extend downwardly therethrough for connection 40 with the plug contacts I4. 'I'he elongated tube 5- extends outwardly from the plug and encloses the conductor cord 9 to make the said cord rigid along a section of its length as it leads out of the plug. The tube 5 is covered with an elon- 45 gated textile covering 8, which covering 8 continues beyond the outer end II of the tube 5 for a short distance around and along the cord 9.

Beginning at the extremity of tube 8 and around the cord 9 is a pliable, tapering, spirally 50 Wound piece of flat metal tape or wire I0, formed as a pigtail. This metal pigtail III is enclosed by the extended part of covering 8. The purpose of the pigtail I0 is to relieve strain at point II and prevent any shearing stress on the insulated 55 cord 9 and covering 8 by equalizing the strain along its length.

It should be noted at this stage of the description that the general appearance of the entire assemblage extending from the iron connecting plug is that of one continuous cable composed of three diierently constructed sections. The first section (a) being rigid, the second (b) pliable, and the third (c) iiexible. The distinction between the pliable and exible sections being that the pliable section may be bent in any direction and will hold the form to which it is bent, while the flexible section will not retain a given form. This arrangement permits a freedom of swing and does not bind or pull.

Asis shown in detail in Figure 3, the metal pigtail or the tapering spiral I permits the midsection (b) to be bent in an arc in ,any direction desired and when so bent it will relieve the strain on the cable coverings at Il which is the end of the rigid section (a) and tend to equalize the strainby placing a large part of it at the said arc. The remaining section (c) is merely the usual ilexible cord, and it is held'away and out of contact with the ironing surface of an ironing board by means of the rigid section and the pliable mid-section. The rigid section, constructed as hereinbeiore described, may be oi any length and extends substantially at right angles with the side of the iron along the line 6-6 of Figure 4, so as to extend to a point beyond the side of the ironing board or within a short distance thereof, when the pliable section or pigtail Il) is bent in the form of an arc either upwardly or downwardly. This obviously keeps the'flexible portion of the ironing cord, the extreme end of which is connected to a power circuit plug, off of the ironing board and to the side of the ironing board so that the cord does not interfere at any time with the movement of the iron in any direction. Ii desired a button switch I2 may be formed in the In operation the ironconnecting plug is inserted in the socket of an electric iron so that the rigid portion extends transversely of the ironing board and away from the roner. (See Figure 4, general illustration.) If the ironer desires to iron on one side of the board in preference to the other, the plug may be turned around so that the rigid section extends transversely the ironing board, as on the line 6-6 of Figure 4, in the other direction. In any event the rigid section will hold the ironing cord above and out of Contact with the material being ironed and away from the path of the iron. 'I'he mid-section, which is substantially a continuation of the rigid section, is bent either upwardly or downwardly in an arc so as to further assist in holding the iieXible section away from the ironing surface and also to relieve strain as above explained. When a piece of material has been ironed the user may tilt the iron backward upon the iron rest as the cord with its rigid section extends from the plug at right angles with the side of the iron and not to the rear, therefore not interfering with the use of the iron rest which.- has beenfound so useful and is applied to all standard makes of irons. With this arrangement the ironer has no vlonger the inconvenienceY of the iiexible iron cord'which is constantly getting in the WayY of the iron and ruillingrthe goods Yand slowing up the work.

yWhile I have shown and described my invention in oneform, I wish it understood that I mayv use other constructions withinthe scope of the following claim.

What I claim isz- Y In combination with an electric` iron\and an ironing board, a connecting plug and cord, including a suitable plug body with contacts mounted in the plug body and connected to a source of power by the cord, an elongated tube substan tially half the length of the width of the ironing board extending at right angles from a side of the said plug, said cord extending from the plug contacts through the elongatedftube, and a pliant cord holding member secured Withinthe outer end oifsaid tube and extending outwardly therefrom whereby to support the said cord above and out of contact with the ironing board.

STANLEY A. DUVALL. 

